


Failsafe

by CarelessHux (AraSigyrn)



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: AU!Alternate Ending, M/M, Non-TROS compliant, Sniper!Hux, non-TLJ compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-19
Updated: 2020-01-19
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:08:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22322314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AraSigyrn/pseuds/CarelessHux
Summary: "It's a failsafe," she tells him, looking out the window where the straggling banners are hanging from windows.  "Twice in a generation, we've become complacent.  We allowed the First Order to rise because we didn't dare act against them."After the defeat of the First Order, General Organa trusts Poe with a failsafe to prevent anything like the First Order happening again.
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Poe Dameron/Finn
Comments: 28
Kudos: 224





	Failsafe

General Organa gives him the coordinates a week after the Second Dissolution, while people are crawling back to their normal lives. Well, she gives _BB-8_ the coordinates and orders that only Poe is allowed to access them. Poe isn't too proud to admit that he's still a little hungover and the implications don't sink in for several minutes.

"It's a failsafe," she tells him, looking out the window where the straggling banners are hanging from windows. "Twice in a generation, we've become complacent. We allowed the First Order to rise because we didn't dare act against them."

"Why me?" Poe asks, a little plaintive.

"Because you don't want power," the General turns to smile sadly at him, "not political, not personal. Politics is a mire that drowns principles. Also, because I trust you. You were a fighter, Captain. I trust your judgement."

"Who else-?"

"Nobody," she shakes her head. "The...failsafe is only known to me and their location is encrypted. I don't know where they are."

Poe stares at her and she opens her hands.

"I'm an old woman, Poe. I am a very tired old woman with a lot of grudges." Her smile warms a little. "I am also part of a family full of Jedi. What I don't know, I can't let slip."

"General, I-" Poe bites his lip. He doesn't like this. The war is over. His parents had thought that, a small voice says in the back of his head. He wavers. Assasination was one of the First Order's weapons, not the Resistance's. Not openly, the small voice points out and his shoulders slump. "And if it's never necessary?"

"Then you'll never need that information," the General says, "and the Galaxy is a better place with better people than I think it is."

There is nothing left to say after that.

* * *

Poe doesn't ever really _forget_ about the information, but he does push it out of his mind. He's still spending time with Finn, Rey and Ben, after all. Force-users aren't always careful about what they pick up from the minds around them. He still struggles with Ben. Even now, he can't quite look past the face of the man that tore his mind apart like it was cheap flimsi.

It makes him feel small and bitter. If Finn, who suffered so much under Ren, can look past it, Poe feels like he doesn't have a leg to stand on. He still doesn't like the guy. He does lay off the First Order jabs after the first few weeks.

Ben doesn't ever talk of it. He leaves the room when Finn tells any story of his own First Order days. Poe knows that he keeps a stilted kind of communication going with a former Stormtrooper Captain, even going to bail her out a couple of times during the celebrations.

Rey goes with him once or twice, which means that Finn goes which means Poe goes too. It's honestly confusing. The Captain, a towering woman with flinty eyes, doesn't even acknowledge Ben. Ben pays her bail and her fines and hunches his shoulders, eyes on the floor while the paperwork rattles across the desk of the booking sergeant.

The second time, Poe offers to buy her a drink while Rey and Ben talk to the peace officers. The Captain looks down at him with narrowed eyes and surprisingly agrees. Poe takes her to a little cantina close to the station and she regards him silently until he sets her drink down in front of her.

"You're Dameron, aren't you?"

"That's me," he taps his fingers on the table. "I gotta admit, I wasn't really paying attention when R-Ben was filling out the paperwork, so I have no idea what your name is."

"Phasma," the woman says crisply.

"Oh." Poe blinks at her and closes his mouth with a snap.

"Do you prefer Dameron or Rebel scum?" Phasma asks.

He gapes at her for a second before her teeth gleam in a smile.

"Oh, joking now? I didn't think you-" he manages to bite the end off that sentence before he can make a complete fool of himself.

"Didn't think my lot had a sense of humour?" Phasma finishes with another flash of sharp teeth. "We don't. They surgically remove it during armour fitting, didn't you know?"

Poe blinks and takes a long pull from his own drink before he answers.

"Well, you can just call me Poe."

"Poe," Phasma sounds it out. "You are the one who FN-2871 defected to, are you not? The pilot."

"That's me," Poe says.

"You were a better infiltrator than we gave you credit for," Phasma says. "How did you learn to fly a TIE fighter?"

The conversation turns to fighters and flying and Poe slowly relaxes. He likes Phasma almost despite himself. She's cool, dangerous and smart. He's halfway to a crush by the time he buys their third and last round and feeling just secure enough to ask. "So, you and Ben-?"

Phasma's expression closes off and her eyes narrow. Poe holds up his hands. "I'm just asking. The guy seems to be making an effort to help you out."

"I tolerate Kylo Ren's efforts to discharge his conscience," Phasma hisses. "I do not appreciate them. I do not want them. Let his guilt choke him."

"Okay," Poe leans back. "Just curious."

"If it were my choice," Phasma says with the same venom, "I would kill him. Instead, I inconvenience him."

"If it were your choice?" Poe frowns.

"An old promise," Phasma says in a tone that suggests she's not going to say anymore.

Poe lets it lie and they part companionably enough. Ben is waiting at the station, hands tucked into his armpits and shoulders slumped. He looks up at Phasma then immediately away. Poe thinks there are tears in his eyes. Phasma stares at him and her lip curls. Rey comes to take his arm and pull him away and Poe doesn't see how it plays out.

Ben meets them back at the ship, hood and scarf drawn up to hide his face, with wet, red eyes and Poe mentally awards Phasma the win. Ben vanishes into the sleeping quarters before they break atmo and Poe doesn't actually see him for a few days.

He does see Phasma again, meets her for a drink whenever his schedule puts him in-system and he doesn't have passengers. They have long winding conversations that somehow skirt the realities of the war they fought and work their way through most of the cheaper cantinas on planet. She doesn't get arrested so often and Poe never sees her interact with Ben.

* * *

Poe has almost convinced himself that he'll never need the General's failsafe when the first reports come in from the Rim. It's nothing specific, not at first but Poe's pilots talk and when they're worried, they talk to him. Jess finds him outside the Senate one evening.

Poe's waiting for Finn, here with Skywalker to discuss the new Jedi Order and its position in the resurgent Republic, when she finds him. It's all bad news. She was on a tiny rock, RT-1773, that was little more than a mine and a decrepit space port when she heard a speech being given.

"What kind of speech?"

Jess looks at him with a bitter twist to her mouth. "You know what kind of speech. The corrupt Republic, the decadence of the Core Systems, the glorious days of the Empire."

Poe tastes bile on the back of his tongue.

He doesn't do anything that night. Which is to say, he eats a simple dinner with Luke and Finn, listens to the news of the new Temple and takes a walk under the stars. The next day he goes to visit Phasma who shakes her head at him.

"I know this song," she tells him.

Poe thanks her and leaves that night. He takes his X-wing into hyperspace and when they're in orbit of a non-descript little moon in the middle of nowhere, he asks BB-8 for the co-ordinates.

BB-8 informs him that there's a broadcast frequency but no identifying details as the nav-comp calculates the route. Poe sits in his cockpit, stomach churning and eyes stinging. He looks at the display as the calculations finish running and there's a moment where he almost wipes it, almost goes back to Finn and the comfort of the Temple's guest room.

"Punch it," Poe says and BB-8 takes them into hyperspace.

* * *

The coordinates lead to a small blue-grey planet looping lazily around a small star. There are comets, some old space debris and no signs of anything resembling sentient life. BB-8 insists they're in the right place and Poe takes his X-Wing down through the thick atmosphere of the nameless planet.

It doesn't even appear on his nav-comp and Poe wonders again, if he's doing the right thing.

The planet is thickly forested and Poe might have flown right by the clearing he's supposed to land in. It looks natural, a fallen tree rotting off to one side and only a small circle of watery sunlight actually reaching the ground. The ground is solid and seems stable under his landing gear but even when he climbs out of his ship, Poe can't see any signs of sentient life.

The trees stretch overhead and a cool mist makes the whole forest seem like a dream. It's raining so softly that Poe can't be sure it isn't just the mist. He pulls off his helmet and looks around, a little helpless.

Then BB-8 whistles and Poe opens his mouth to snap. Until BB-8 whistles again, this time from the X-wing and Poe spins to see another BB unit, a black one, almost invisible under the canopy cover.

' _`IDENTIFY`_ ' the strange BB unit repeats.

"Poe Damaeron," he says.

The BB unit whistles and spins its upper portion to look back under the canopy. Poe tries to peer past it but all he can see are shadows. Until one of the shadows raises an arm. The BB unit whistles again, the looping trill that means recognition and happiness.

The figure in the shadows comes forward, dropping a hand to rest on the top of the BB unit.

"Buggering kriffing _fuck_!"

The dead man facing him raises an imperious eyebrow as Poe's helmet falls from his numb fingers.

"A simple 'hello' would have sufficed," says Armitage Hux.

* * *

Poe was not part of the strike force that took down the _Finalizer_. It was too sudden, a chance leak of intelligence to a local Resistance base. It was just another desperate battle amid a hundred other skirmishes. The local pilots had gone up hoping to slow the Star Destroyer enough to allow for an evacuation. Someone had gotten a lucky shot; no two reports could agree where. The _Finalizer_ had crashed into a moon with the reported loss of 85% of her crew.

The victory had seemed like a minor miracle at the time.

It had been so sudden that it wasn't until two cycles later that the Resistance learned that Grand Marshal Hux had been in command and had, according to the survivors, gone down with his ship. The First Order had never really regained their footing.

Poe had been on a small backwater, desperately trying to jury-rig his X-wing, when he heard and his thought had been ' _Thank the kriffing Force_ '

"What in the kriffing hells?!" Poe manages now.

Hux sighs, lips pressing into a frown before he lifts his hood and Poe can get a good look at him. Hux looks...nothing like the clean-cut General of the holos and Resistance nightmares. His hair is long, his face is thin and bearded. A jagged scar cuts along his right temple, milimetres from the corner of his eye. He's bundled up in mismatched grey and green clothes and the BB unit at his side beeps and whirrs.

"It's all right, BB-9e," Hux pats the droid who beeps mutinously and refocuses its lenses on Poe. "General Organa didn't explain, I take it?"

"She said," Poe's hand twitches for the blaster on his hip, "that you were a failsafe."

Hux's lips twist but there's no humour in his smile.

"She didn't say you were..." Poe gestures at the other man.

"I'm not surprised," Hux shrugs a shoulder, "that she didn't tell you. I remain surprised that she didn't haul me in front of a firing squad."

"How did you survive the _Finalizer_?" Poe demands.

"I wasn't on the _Finalizer_ ," Hux looks away for an instant before his eyes snap back to Poe's face.

The silence echoes between them and after a moment Poe bends to pick up his helmet. As the shock ebbs, he's left with more questions. What is Hux supposed to do? He'd assumed that General Organa's 'gift' had been a murky sort of weapon.

Hux sighs and Poe's gaze snaps back to him, hand dropping to his blaster reflexively.

"Do you actually have a target or is this just your curiosity getting the better of you?"

"There's a target," Poe says and then keeps going because it's not like this can get worse. "Haren Karia."

Hux's lips purse slightly and he folds his arms, listening as Poe lays out everything he's been able to find out about the guy. He doesn't say anything, doesn't move and if Poe wasn't being skewered in place by those sharp eyes, he'd think the guy had fallen asleep or vanished.

"-and he's going to be giving a speech tomorrow." Poe finishes. "That's the only information I could get on his movements."

Hux taps his fingers against his arm and looks down at his droid. "BB-9e, I will require the third case."

' _`ACKNOWLEDGED`_ ' BB-9e zips off into the forest while Hux looks back at Poe, then at the X-wing.

"How were you planning on getting me off-world? I was never better than middling as a pilot."

"I, there's a second seat," Poe admits and Hux comes forward, completely out of the shade of the trees.

"In an X-wing?" Hux peers at Poe's baby with doubtful eyes. "Where did you put it?"

Poe goes into exhaustive detail, hoping to bore Hux out of asking the obvious follow-up question. He'd installed the second seat for Finn, after one too many nightmares of First Order goons breaking into the base. He's expecting Hux to blank him after the first minute, eyes glazing over like the General's used to. He doesn't expect Hux to have more questions, technical questions that Poe has to actually think about.

Hux inspects his baby with the sort of focus that must have struck terror in his junior officers and they're discussing the capacity of the hold when BB-9e reappears with a modest leather satchel hooked around its head.

"Thank you," Hux says without looking around and his droid beeps. "You will have to compress, BB-9e, to fit."

" _`CONFIRM`_ " BB-9e whistles.

"Fit? I don't think-" Poe turns his head and loses track of what he's saying. BB-9e whirrs and for a second, he thinks it's spinning in place but the ball of its body pulls in tighter and tighter until it's half the size it started at. Hux unhooks the satchel and gestures Poe back. "That's not a standard config."

"No," Hux agrees. BB-9e hops into the hold, squashing in among Poe's spare clothes and personal belongings. Hux closes the hatch and shoulders his satchel. "How long will it take to reach this planet?"

"Ten hours? Give or take?" Poe turns to look at the slim figure standing in the shadow of his X-wing.

"Best get started then," Hux says. Poe isn't sure which one of them he's talking to.

* * *

Nine and a half hours later, Poe puts the X-wing down at a small landing strip on the outskirts of the biggest settlement on RT-1773. It's an old part of the space port, well away from the flow of traffic and Poe can't see anyone around. The planet is midway through its night, a badly pocked moon hanging over the horizon and the settlement spotted with artificial light. He starts the process of powering down the engines.

He hears Hux breathe out as the whine of the engine dies down. He doesn't startle - he's never forgotten that the former General was behind him but Hux had spent the whole trip reading every scrap of information Poe had on RT-1773 and the target. He opens the cockpit and finds Hux already hooded when he turns to warn him.

RT-1773's air is hot and dry, Poe can't help but think of Jakku. There's something indefinable in the air; a lean desperation that makes him look for the rotting lines of a Star Destroyer. He jerks back to the present when Hux jumps out of the cockpit and ducks under the belly of the X-wing.

"Hey, be careful!"

Hux ignores him, opening the hatch and helping BB-9e out. Poe ejects BB-8 and peers around nervously as BB-9e reverses what ever compacting process it did back on the other planet. Hux keeps a hand on BB-9e's head and a wary eye on their surroundings. When BB-9e is back it's full size, Hux leans down.

"Scout and report back."

" _`CONFIRM`_ " BB-9e chirrups.

"Wait, you can't-" Poe scrambles for the right words. BB-9e is very much not a standard BB unit and the polished black exterior is bad enough without what he's pretty sure used to be First Order insignia.

Hux lifts his hand and BB-9e ripples and vanishes.

"The kriffing-"

"I upgraded her," Hux says in a soft tone that barely reaches Poe's ears. Pale eyes catch his for a moment.

"Why?"

"I was stealing her," Hux lifts a shoulder. "Discretion was necessary."

Poe shakes his head as BB-8 whistles inquisitively from beside him. Hux pulls his hood further over his head. Poe looks down at his very obviously Republic overalls and strips them off to fold away in his helmet. BB-8 beeps at him and Poe pulls out a cowl that still has sand from Jakku in the creases and wraps it around his head. "We should move."

Hux doesn't argue, just falls into step with Poe. BB-8 circles them, occasionally getting distracted by scrap or shiny things. Poe leads the way into the port and looks around. There isn't that much traffic through the port but a couple of places are selling food and there's a cantina with too-loud music spilling out every time someone opens the door.

He jumps when Hux catches his elbow and draws him towards a small stall with a spitting grill. Hux waves a hand at the cook, holds up two fingers and says something in a harsh dialect of Basic that almost sounds like Shyriiwook. It gets them two foil packets of something sizzling and red and Poe finds them a half-ruined wall to sit on.

They eat in silence. The food is too hot and what flavour it had is drowned in grease but it's not ration bars. Poe watches the few drunk and idle folk around them and lets himself relax a little. It's maybe half an hour before BB-9e reappears.

And it's an hour after that and some minor thievery that Poe is pacing around the ground floor of a half-collapsed house. He's bundled up in an anonymous mish-mash of stolen robes. ("Don't get attached," Hux told him with a wry twist of his lips. "We'll have to dump them on the way back.") It's enough anonymity that no-one looks twice as he works his way through a circuit of abandoned houses.

Hux is invisible, tucked away on a roof with bent antenna and a cracked satellite dish since before dawn. Poe is on guard duty and trying to convince himself that this isn't going to be a disaster. The rally that Karia's people are holding is scheduled for noon and it's twenty klicks away if it's one.

The Resistance had had snipers and Poe thinks uneasily that this would have been a very difficult shot. He keeps his head down, pretending to be just another scavenger as the sun climbs and the air starts to boil. The two droids are maintaining a wider perimeter so he only catches the occasional glimpse.

The crowd is making noise - there's trumpets and cheering, too far away to make out the details but Poe hears it start up. He has to force his shoulders down and hide his hands in his sleeves until they stop shaking.

He doesn't hear the shot. Not really. He hears the swell of the crowd explode into screams. His mind fills in the shot. Poe straightens up, looking from Hux's perch to the distant crowd. He thinks he can hear engines and he's halfway to the foot of the building when he sees Hux sliding down the back wall.

The rifle is already in pieces and Hux has his robe wrapped around his left hand where he's holding the barrel. BB-9e zips around the corner just as Hux's boots hit the sand.

"Impeccable timing, BB-9e," Hux says, a little breathless and bundles the pieces of the rifle in his outer layer of clothing. "Rendezvous at the ship, one hour after dark."

" _`CONFIRM`_ " BB-9e tucks the bundle away and disappears.

"We should go," Poe can see rapidly moving dots.

"We are going," Hux grabs a fistful of Poe's outer robe and yanks it off, tossing it into a corner. "Where's your droid?"

BB-8 beeps from behind a wall. Poe looks back at where the dots are starting to resolve into speeders. "We need to-"

"-go, yes. I heard you." Hux rearranges his robes, somehow seeming to lose about twelve centimetres of height and gain at least twice that down the middle. "But we don't run. We walk."

" _What?_ "

"Everyone looks for the running man," Hux says but the rhythm's off, like he's repeating something he heard somewhere. Then he loops a wiry arm around Poe's neck and pulls him off-balance. For a moment, Poe thinks it's an attack and he plants himself. Hux hisses through his teeth. "We walk, Dameron and we don't look back."

Poe's still off-balance when he tries to move; Hux hasn't let him go. It takes a couple of strides to realize that Hux must be doing it on purpose because Poe's gait has changed. BB-8 is shadowing them through the houses and Poe can feel the hair all down his spine standing on end.

It feels like it takes forever to clear the tumbledown houses and Poe's sweat is freezing on his skin despite the heat. The engines of the speeders are deafeningly loud and he steals a glance around Hux's shoulder. The speeders are manned by goons with so many guns that the speeders look like big bugs.

"Stop looking at them," Hux snaps, tightening his grip on Poe's neck.

"They're nearly here," Poe complains back.

"So are we," Hux says and Poe looks ahead to see the settlement rising out of the sand. "Keep walking, keep your head down and follow my lead."

It takes all his self-control to obey. He has to fight his own instincts to lash out, to strike at the man that his hindbrain insists is his enemy. His rational mind wins. Hux steers them for one of the cantinas. Poe almost doesn't see the weapons scanner and he locks his knees. Hux jostles him, tumbling them both through the arch.

The screen beside the massive security guard flashes red. Poe's blood freezes in his veins even as his heart races like he's got a battalion of TIEs on his tail. The guard looks at the screen. Poe can see his own blaster and another blaster and three knives showing on the shape that is Hux. The guard taps the screen. Grunts.

"Just in from the waste?"

"All day," Hux says in heavily-accented Basic as he tips his head at Poe, "because this one 'had a good feeling'."

"Lucky?" The guard says.

"Only if sand is selling well in the market," Hux snorts.

The guard huffs in amusement. "Cause no trouble."

"As you say," Hux nudges Poe. They stagger through the door and Hux releases him. "Find us a table. I'll get some drinks."

Poe wants to ask, wants to _demand_ but the cantina is full of more than just smoke and bad music. He finds a small, unsteady table with two seats free behind one of the speakers and waits, seething with questions. Hux comes back carrying two glasses of something dull purple and foul-smelling. He doesn't touch the glass Hux sets in front of him.

He can't see Hux's expression under the hood but there's a huff of air and the faintest impression of a smile before a long-fingered hand reaches out to reclaim the glass. Hux takes a drink and puts it back down.

"It's foul enough but it's not poisoned."

Poe glowers at the glass. He does take a sip, more because he feels like Hux is laughing at him and he's done stupider things for the sake of his pride. It tastes like acid and B-wing exhaust fumes and burns all the way down to his toes. Hux laughs quietly at his expression and Poe drops the glass back on the table.

"What are we doing?" He hisses.

"Having a drink, like civilized sentients who just spent the day digging through sand," Hux's voice is low but his eyes flash in the dim light, "and letting every fool in those speeders finish chasing shadows through the settlement."

"The door-"

"-showed us armed with personal weaponry that _hadn't_ been fired," Hux drops his voice to a bare whisper. "We're nothing worthy of note. Certainly not as noticeable as if say, an X-wing with Resistance markings were seen taking off in a hurry..."

"Kriff," Poe groans.

"When the sun sets, no-one is going to look twice at a small ship," Hux says. "Especially not one fast enough to evade anyone who does look. But we have at least three hours until then. Better to spend them in this ...establishment than outside where a lot of very angry people are looking for targets, yes?"

"Yes," Poe drums his fingers against the table. Hux is making a lot of good points and he can't think of any rebuttal. He's actually reluctantly impressed; the Resistance had rarely come off better when they were fighting First Order troops under Hux's actual command and he's beginning to see why.

"Finish your drink," Hux says, lifting his own glass. "Slowly, if you please. I didn't bring that much in credits."

"You have credits?"

"Contingency," Hux shrugs.

They drink in silence. Poe checks out the rest of the bar surreptitiously and sees that most of the other customers are drinking silently. There is a brief excitement when some armed men burst in but the massive security guard evicts them without much trouble and no-one even looks in their direction.

The silence wears on him and after an hour of awkwardly trying not to make eye-contact, Poe heaves a sigh. Hux's gaze snaps to him immediately and his shoulders tense.

"Okay, I gotta ask-" more tension, Hux's hand tightening around his glass "-why do you call your droid 'she'?"

There's a pause. Hux blinks and sets his glass down. "Truthfully?"

"Yeah?"

"She decided the matter on her own," Hux looks down at the table and Poe can just make out the wry twist of his smile. "More accurately, she developed a ...kinship with Captain Phasma and decided to adopt her pronouns."

It's oddly whimsical for a cold-blooded First Order marionette and Poe stares for a couple of seconds before transferring his gaze down to the dregs of his drink. "My round, I think."

Hux drains the last of his glass in answer. Poe goes to the bar, makes some small talk and lets a drunken twi'lek tell him all about the assassination while he watches Hux. The former General is watching the exits and Poe realizes belatedly that Hux had taken the seat that backed onto the speaker. He picks up their drinks and crosses the sticky floor.

They spin their second drinks out for another hour and a half, not really talking. Then they tag along behind a gaggle of drunks. The sun has set and the heat of the day has mostly dissipated so even the armed men rattling around the spaceport don't look twice at their robes.

The droids are waiting and BB-8 comes zipping over to loop giddily around Poe's knees. He laughs, relief loosening the miserable tension of his shoulders. "Good to see you too, buddy. Let's get out of here."

He catches movement out of the corner of his eye; Hux's hand lifting from BB-9e's head. Then Hux is ducking under the wing, stowing droid and his disassembled rifle and Poe is abandoning his bulky robes. They take off smooth and fast and Poe doesn't see any interest from the port or the trading ships in orbit.

"Set our course, BB-8," he calls and waits for the course to flash up in the nav-comp before he takes them up and out into hyperspace.

The cockpit is silent but it feels a little less foreboding. Poe tries to twist around enough to look over his shoulder and completely fails. Hux's exhale sounds amused. Poe resettles himself grumpily; he's totally going to add a mirror somewhere in the console. He looks out at the brilliant blur of hyperspace and, before his rational mind can talk him out of it, he opens his mouth. "I didn't know you were a sniper."

"Secondary specialization," Hux says. "I was moved to the expedited command track at fourteen."

"Wait, you mean you never went on a mission?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Hux says around a yawn. "I had thirty-five confirmed kills by then."

"...how old were you?"

"The first time?" Hux sounds like he's half asleep, like they're talking about...the weather or what the mess is going to serve. "Eleven years, five months. The Commandant thought it would smarten me up."

Poe's jaw works but he couldn't have managed an actual response if there'd been a Force-user on hand to compel him. Eleven and a half? He thinks of Finn's rare stories of his own training and thinks that Finn had barely been shooting at people-shaped targets at eleven. He also thinks that the First Order was even more monstrous than he'd imagined. And he'd imagined a lot of horrible things.

Hux's breathing deepens and Poe turns his attention to his console, busying himself with planning his next round of maintenance and what upgrades he's going to try to charm out of Supplies.

He lets Hux and his droid off on their planet with about two hours left in its night. He doesn't know what to say. Hux is somehow less approachable with the bottom half of his face actually visible and missing the bulk of his stolen robes. BB-9e is already rolling off into the trees.

"So, uh," Poe fidgets with the strap of his helmet.

"Next time, send me the whole dossier," Hux says, shouldering his satchel.

"There isn-" Poe bites the end off the sentence. Hux's lip curls into a familiar sneer and he turns away. It takes him no time at all to disappear into the darkness under the trees and Poe is left in the dim light of his ship. "There _isn't_ going to be a next time."

* * *

There is a next time, less than two months later. It's a risky, time-sensitive job and BB-8 is programming the coordinates almost before Poe comes away from the intelligence briefing. He does send as much of the dossier as he's comfortable with, broadcasting a quick burst before the jump to hyperspace.

Hux and BB-9e are waiting at the clearing. Hux doesn't waste time with gloating, just loads BB-9e and two slim cases with the First Order's insignia still etched on their lids into the X-wing. He asks a lot of questions during the hyperspace flight and even lets Poe make some suggestions.

Atterse Syndor dies on the front steps of his home, in full view of the holocams and when the planetary police come to investigate, they find the first of his child-slaves almost inside the door. In the bedlam that erupts, no-one notices a modified X-wing break orbit and vanish into hyperspace.

Poe doesn't claim he won't be back after that.

The third time, he brings word of some stuffy suit attempting to resurrect the Stormtrooper Program. Hux is furious, rage so deep and powerful than it shines coldly in his eyes. The failed officer and two of his men die and the last of the files on the Stormtrooper program outside of the locked records of the Senate go up in flames.

Poe buys the drinks that night; buys more than he should but Hux is shaking, eyes empty and gaze fixed on nothing. BB-9e dares to infiltrate the cantina, trilling soft distress. Hux says nothing, does nothing until Poe finally gets him talking about a possible stealth upgrade for the X-Wing.

* * *

He gets pulled into a mission with Finn, easily won over by mostly-joking claims that he's neglected him. Nothing serious but it means co-ordinating with Rey and Ben and Poe is almost surprised that none of them pick up on his guilty secret. He flies them back to report to the Senate, then, acting on a whim, goes looking for Phasma.

She's stayed out of legal trouble but proves willing to meet for a drink when Poe comms her. Poe buys her a couple of drinks and listens to her talk about her life. He drinks more than he should and Phasma folds her arms.

"You look maudlin."

"It's...an anniversary," Poe drains his glass.

"Lost in the War?" Phasma asks. He nods and she sighs.

"I wanted to ask..." he looks at his empty glass. "We had to go through some old records..."

"Records?"

"First Order hierarchy," Poe says. Phasma's expression blanks. "No, just routine. Some idiot in the Outer Rim was talking about bringing back the 'trooper program."

She scoffs. Poe rolls a shoulder.

"And I got thinking. Well, wondering, really."

"About the program?"

"About General Hux," Poe admits in a rush of breath.

" _Grand Marshal_ Hux," Phasma corrects.

"You knew him, didn't you?" Poe says like he doesn't know. Like there isn't a modified BB-Unit rolling around on a lonely planet carrying the shape of Hux's regard.

"I had the privilege of serving under him," Phasma says, lifting her chin, "and the honour of his trust. He didn't trust many people."

"The First Order didn't really allow for that, huh?"

"He was the youngest General in Imperial or Order history," Phasma's gaze goes distant. "He was brilliant. If we'd had him during the last battle, you wouldn't have stood a chance."

"You admired him," Poe says.

"I loved him." Phasma's lip curls. "Not-not romantically. He raised me up when his father would have seen me broken."

"There's a story there," Poe lets the words hang in the air. Phasma drains her own glass and tells him, like she's reporting in, about the Academy. She tells him about Commandant Brendol Hux who was every bit the monster Poe had been expecting and more. She tells him about the First Order's cutthroat promotion scale and about the willowy boy who had seen her when none of her commanders had. She tells him about the sort of mind that could build the Starkiller and her chrome armour. She tells him about the man that she would have followed into hell.

Poe sits in silence. Phasma waves for another round of drinks. They drink in silence and Poe files all this information away to add to his mental file on the man. There is one thing more he wants to know.

"So he and Ben-?"

"I never asked," Phasma cuts him off. "Nor would it have been proper to speculate on the nature of their attachment."

Poe holds up his hands. "I'm not telling anyone anything."

"I-" Phasma tips her head back. "It was different. Before Starkiller. Before Ren's ascension."

Poe nods. Phasma's lips twist into a faintly familiar sneer.

"Before Kylo Ren put him in medical on a weekly basis."

Poe winces and Phasma finishes her drink. She rolls the empty glass between her hands and Poe wonders. "You said you couldn't kill Ben...?"

"Correct," her lip curls and there's something eerily familiar about that sneer. "Technically, my orders concerned Kylo Ren but...he trusted my discretion."

"Huh," is all Poe feels he can offer. It's strange to think of anyone in the Order having actual loyalty but he can't deny the evidence of his own eyes. He buys the next two rounds of drinks and they close out the night in silence.

* * *

The mission after that is difficult. Poe agonizes for nearly a week, rereading all the intelligence reports and trying to convince himself that he's just seeing the ghost of the First Order, rising in the shadows while the Republic refuses to see it. He admits defeat on that front and then spends another two days trying to figure out which of the possible figureheads is the biggest threat.

At dusk on the second day, he decides 'kriff it' and sends all the dossiers through BB-8's encrypted channels. There won't be an answer, Hux had warned him that there was no transmitter on the planet, nothing more technical than a blaster. Poe spends the night establishing that he's going information gathering, deep cover for at least a week.

He and BB-8 slip out with the first light of dawn, hopping through a few different waypoints until he's absolutely sure that he doesn't have anyone on his tail. BB-8 sets their course and Poe is relieved to come out of hyperspace less than an hour later with the familiar blue-green planet ahead of them.

Hux is waiting, sitting on a fallen tree. BB-9e is displaying the dossiers Poe sent and the blue light leaches what little colour was in the former General's face. He looks like a Force ghost is supposed to.

"Probably too much information," Poe starts and Hux snorts, dispelling the display with a gloved hand.

"Not enough information," he says, "but enough to begin."

"I don't know who the target is," Poe pulls his helmet off.

"All of them, surely?"

Poe's breath catches. Hux's lips twist and his eyes flick to BB-9e then back up. It feels like an escalation. Poe's struggled with the others, not as much as he'd thought he would but he's had a couple of sleepless nights. This feels like mass murder.

"Or you could draw this out," Hux blows out a breath that mists in cold air, "simply take out the competition. Assassination won't be feasible once any of them actually musters power. They'll reform the Order, purge it of 'mistakes' like your treacherous little friend and pragmatists like the officers who signed the surrender. They might go back to clones, resurrect the droid armies or they might just decide on salting the earth of every Core planet they can put a force on."

"You can't know that," Poe argues.

Hux closes the distance between them, glaring down at him even as Poe's hand goes for his blaster. "Of course I can. Your Republic doesn't like to remember, does it? The First Order didn't select for imagination, Dameron. They're scrabbling for the top position but none of them have any actual plans. The more power they accrue, the more that will change. This is a dying gasp but even a dying combatant is dangerous if they have a blaster in their hand!"

"I-" Poe shakes his head, rocking back on his heels. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"These individuals are probably the last hope of whatever revivalist faction still remains," Hux says, like he's speaking to a particularly stupid child. "Everyone more competent is dead, surrendered or neutralized. If the Republic makes any effort with the Outer Rim worlds, this might actually be the end of the Empire."

"You're not just saying that?"

"I would like to think my previous missions have established that I don't want the Order resurgent," Hux spits. "The Order left a void —a vacuum— and every cycle that passes, that vacuum is being filled in by surrounding factions and the opportunity to exploit it shrinks."

Poe takes a breath and tries to think as logically as he can. He wants to believe Hux, wants desperately to believe that this is just ...expedient. A temporary exercise in the sort of war that nobody wants to fight. He doesn't trust it, not sure that Hux is telling him the truth rather than just what he wants to hear.

Hux is still staring down at him for a long second, then he throws up his hands. "It's your decision, Dameron. Just make it before we die of old age or exposure."

Poe glares at him.

"If this really is beyond your...ethical tolerance," Hux points out after another strained minute of silence, "your ship is there."

"No," Poe shakes his head. "No, I'm not letting you sneak off-"

" _Sneak off_?" Hux snarls back. "There's only one ship on the planet and even if I wanted to steal it, I imagine _your droid_ at least is competent enough to thwart me."

"You don't have a ship?!"

Hux exhales, raking his fingers through his hair as he looks away. "I did not expect to...the opportunity to leave. A ship would have been meaningless."

Poe snaps his mouth shut. No ship. No comms. Just rain, steady drizzling rain and a stolen astromech. Hux won't meet his eyes, lips pursed and brows furrowed. BB-8 whistles and Poe shakes his head, water flying.

"You really think this could be it?"

Hux looks back at the ship. "If everything in those files was true...yes. There weren't many officers with any real influence. If the Senate can actually act to support the Rim, there will be no opportunity for others to rise."

"Okay," Poe nods. "Let's do it."

* * *

The mission takes three weeks altogether and Poe has to report in for a couple of days halfway through the second. He's let Hux plan the missions, watching with a slightly awed fascination as Hux assessed variables and talked through contingencies. He doesn't seem to need Poe's input, more like he's talking aloud and Poe just happens to be in the cockpit as he does.

The first three targets die within hours of each other. Two are sniped. They break into a ridiculously lavish pleasure palace to kill the third, Hux keeping them in the shadows until news of the first two assassinations reaches the planet. Poe doesn't actually see how Hux kills that one, only knows it wasn't by blaster and that Hux comes back with that eerie blankness in his eyes.

Poe gets him back to the X-wing, bundled up in stolen robes and manages to fit BB-9e in by more-or-less cramming her into his lap. They spend the night in a small smuggler-friendly outpost on the fringes of a meteor-mining colony.

Poe's com goes in the night and he wakes to find Hux sitting in the opposite bunk with his knees drawn up and his eyes open. They flick to Poe's face then back to the middle distance. Poe thumbs his comm.

"Jess! What's up?"

Hux keeps unnaturally still; if anything of him shows on the display it must be just the fold of his blanket. Poe keeps his own tone even and upbeat, listens to Jess complain about the latest patrol and new missions.

"You're wanted, by the way," Jess finishes.

Poe quirks an eyebrow up. "Oh?"

"The Jedi need a pilot, some important mission." Jess shrugs. "Classified, of course."

"Oh," Poe keeps his eyes from flicking to Hux's with an effort. "Uh, sure, send me the details!"

"Finn's going to be so happy to see you," Jess says with a highly suggestive smirk.

"Oh kriff off," Poe snorts, feeling his cheeks heat and he cuts the connection.

The room is too quiet and he can't see more than the vaguest shape of Hux.

"Finn," Hux says and Poe startles at the sound. "He was...FN2187. The traitor."

"The free man," Poe snaps. "He was. He is."

"He's a Jedi?" Hux sounds like he's making polite conversation about someone he barely knows.

"Yeah," Poe looks down at his comm. "I don't know what they want."

"A pilot," Hux says, allowing him the change of subject. "Or so I assume."

"I don't know how long this is gonna take," Poe clarifies.

Hux sighs and shifts to sit up. "The intelligence on the remaining targets is comprehensive enough that we can predict their likely movements for the next few weeks. If it's longer than that..."

"I can find someone to take over," Poe decides, "but what about you? I can't take you with me."

"No," Hux lifts a shoulder. "I'll perform some recon."

"You want me to leave you alone on an inhabited world?"

"You're not going to be able to fit me in your hold, even if I was willing to hide for an indefinite period, however long the duration of your new mission."

Poe bites his lip, looking at BB-8 who is sharing a charging post with BB-9e and happily oblivious to his dilemma. He's not expecting Hux to defect as much as he's not sure the man _wouldn't_. Hux sighs, pulling his blanket back up and rolling over to put his back to Poe.

"If it helps soothe your conscience, Elveti was one of the commanders considered for the _Finalizer_ before my promotion. Assimar was demoted twice on my orders and Renish lost her left eye to my knife when we were in the Academy. None of them are likely to harbour any goodwill towards me."

"That...does help, actually." Poe frowns. "But you could be lying."

"You could read the damn files you sent me," Hux says sourly. "It's in the footnotes."

Poe scrabbles for his data-pad and goes looking. It's technically in the footnotes of an appendix but everything Hux said is right there in black and white. There's some speculation about Elveti having had an affair with Hux but it's all speculation from one of the Resistance's sources.

"So, did you and Elveti-"

"I'd rather fuck a bantha." Hux rolls over enough to glare. "Your 'source' for that particular tidbit was a brothel keeper who loved scandal any way they could get it and made it up when they couldn't."

Poe looks down at his datapad to hide his smirk. He sends Finn a comm, confirming he's coming and shuts off the lights.

* * *

Finn is radiantly happy to see him, in a way that makes it easy for Poe to just not think about the war criminal he's left running around. He very deliberately tries not to think of Hux when he's surrounded by literal _Jedi_.

It helps that there's a whole lot of tension boiling away between the three Jedi. Poe's not exactly unbiased here, but he thinks most of it is Ben. Finn inadvertently confirms all Poe's uncharitable thinking.

"I'm so glad you're here," he says, leaning into Poe's side as they refuel. "Those two are driving me _crazy_."

"Well, they've always been intense-"

Finn snorts. Poe glances up at him. Finn nods to where Ben is sulking in the shadows while Rey talks to him. She looks exasperated; Poe remembers that expression from the days after Crait when the General had been forced to explain why the remains of the Republic weren't flocking to the Resistance's aid. He can't read Ben's expression at all and looks away with a shiver.

"They're like...I don't even know what. C3PO and R2-D2, maybe? They're _always_ arguing. Even when they agree about something, they argue about it. Ben's got so much more experience but he never explains and Rey-" Finn's smile turns fond "-doesn't let 'impossible' stop her."

"But he's..." Poe searches for the right word, "...safe, right?"

"He's not going Dark Side," Finn says, sure. "I think it's just, everyone is expecting him to? Or is afraid he's going to? He's still got a really bad temper but it's not like it was, it's just temper."

"Well, okay then."

Rey comes over, looking strained behind her smile and Poe tries not to cringe back from Ben's looming presence. Finn's arm comes up around his shoulders and Poe feels a little of that tension drain out of his shoulders. He even manages a smile while Rey explains what they're going to do.

* * *

Poe manages to bow out on the fourth day. He's 99% sure that Finn and Rey think it's because of Ben but he doesn't hang around long enough to find out for sure. He takes a couple of short jumps to make sure no-one's taking an interest before BB-8 gets them back into orbit of XT-09.

"Lot of traffic," Poe mentions as they drop out of hyperspace. There's a lot of small ships buzzing around. BB-8 whistles and patches him through to the radio chatter. It's all bluster and posturing; the three remaining targets are still in-system and their followers are cluttering up the airspace and threatening each other.

Poe slips through without anyone looking twice and sets his X-wing down as the sky greys over with pre-dawn light. He makes sure everything is powered down before he climbs out and it's only as his boots kick up dust that Poe realizes there's a problem.

"How in the Sith Hells are we going to find this guy?"

BB-8 whistles, cheerfully derisive and Poe groans. BB-8 spins its camera to look out at the grey and whistles a little louder.

"Keep it down willya," Poe starts when there's an answering whistle from the murk. He looks around in time to see BB-9e shimmer into sight just beyond the shadows cast by the X-wing. "Thank the Force."

BB-9e whistles a little dubiously then circles around. She whistles again when Poe doesn't immediately start moving and he has to hurry when BB-8 hurtles off after her. The droids lead him off into a rundown sector where the buildings are mostly ruined and BB-9e skips past some rubble and into a house that looks to be actively falling apart. Hux is a grey shadow in a corner.

"Hux," Poe says quietly and gets a thin flash of a smile in response. "Everything okay?"

"Elveti is reportedly in negotiations with the surviving Knights of Ren," Hux says tersely. "I haven't been able to confirm it but there are some worrying signs."

"The Knights of Ren? I thought they were all dead."

"As did I," Hux rakes a hand through his hair.

"You served with them, right?"

"Hardly," Hux shakes his head. "Ren was...territorial. His Knights were never on the _Finalizer_ for more than a couple of days and I never saw them if they were present."

"Territorial, huh?" Poe swallows his curiosity. "So, they could be here?"

"It is a possibility," Hux taps his fingers against his arm. "Unlikely at this point but possible. It's more likely that they're observing the infighting and waiting to see who emerges as the best placed."

"So, we're going ahead as planned?" Poe guesses.

"We may have to accelerate the timeline," Hux says. "There are a lot of partisans in the streets and the targets are alert to the threat."

"Well," Poe plants his butt on a stable-ish pile of rubble, "you're the strategist. I'm guessing you have some kinda strategy for this."

That gets him an actual smile, rather than the thin smirk he's familiar with and Hux launches into an explanation. The basic gist, as Poe understands it, is to hit the targets in quick succession and run like hell when chaos erupts. It's not the most elegant plan but Poe is willing to trust Hux's ability and his ship.

"Who first?"

"Elveti," Hux decides. "We will have to visit the space port first, though."

Back at the port, Poe strips off his flight suit, leaves it tucked away under broken bits of machinery and rubble. Hux fetches something from behind a battered stack of water-crates and disappears in the direction of the port-side refreshers while Poe checks the system chatter. He doesn't hear anything about the Knights of Ren.

Hux has his rifle, still in pieces, tucked under his cloak. The two droids are trundling around the edges of the settlement, looking as innocuous as possible. Poe finds a good spot overlooking the main street and Hux sets up with six hours before Elveti is due to pass through.

"Won't he be looking for a sniper?" Poe asks as Hux assembles his rifle.

"He barely scraped a pass on his marksmanship assessments and he never listens to subordinates, especially if their knowledge outstrips his." Hux has stripped off most of his layers and seems to be staring at the banners hanging from the windows and roofs of the surrounding houses. "He'll have been warned and he'll do it anyway."

"I knew a couple of officers like that," Poe admits.

"Once he's been eliminated, Renish will respond aggressively," Hux says, half to himself. "She's always been a proponent of preemptive defence. She won't let her security detail dictate her actions and she'll make a point of being highly visible, assuming that any attacker will be intimidated by her confidence. It will make her an easy target."

"And the other guy?"

"Assimar is the opposite," Hux glances at him. "If he and Renish were capable of co-existing within two parsecs of each other, they would have made a formidable team. He'll run as fast as he can to the safest place he can find and reinforce his defenses to the point of paranoia."

"I'm really hoping you have a plan for that," Poe says.

"Of course." Hux doesn't actually tell him the plan but Poe isn't interested in pushing his luck on that one when they're actually trying not to be noticed.

Poe gets to spend the next few hours hunkered down on the roof, about six metres back from where Hux is lying. He keeps an ear on the gathering crowd. They're too far up for him to make out actual words but the general mood carries pretty well. It feels like a cantina, one dropped glass away from a brawl.

BB-8 is skulking in the shadows at the base of the building. He can't see BB-9e but he's pretty sure that she's monitoring their escape route. Poe waits as long as he can before it's too risky to be moving around. He settles about a metre back from Hux.

The day gets hotter, the crowds swirl through the streets and Poe is nearly asleep when the tenor of the noise changes. The whine of speeder engines cut through the air. Poe sees the flash of sunlight on chrome. The crack of the rifle splits the air and the whining engines screech.

Poe grabs Hux's belt and pulls him back, both of them tumbling down the side of the building as shouts and screams start. There's the snap of blasters being fired as they round the corner.

"Can we run this time?" Poe says as the first of the crowd comes barreling down the alley.

"Just go," Hux pulls up his hood and they blend into the running crowd. Poe keeps his head down and focuses on keeping up. Hux lets the crowd carry them away for nearly a whole click before he ducks around a corner. Poe is just a step behind.

There's a shift in the way the crowds are moving and Hux starts looking up. Poe can hear the sounds of boots marching along the streets. He sees a set of stairs, nudges Hux with an elbow and they hurry over. Poe stays on the ground, back against the wall and hood drawn up. He can hear what sounds like some poor sentient getting threatened around the corner, the tramp of boots closing in.

The shot doesn't come from the rifle. Hux must not have had time. He hears the zap of a personal blaster. A shout. Then Hux is sliding down the wall, leaving his outer layer of clothes to flutter into the dust. More shouting and the sounds of blasters firing wildly. By the time they reach the mouth of the alley, it sounds like people are starting to shoot back.

Nobody looks twice at two more running figures. Poe steers them back to the space-port where everyone who can get on a ship seems to be running for it. There are a few dog-fights breaking out and he sees a First Order shuttle lifting into the upper atmosphere.

"Assimar," Hux says and Poe curses.

"We're never going to catch him-" The pitch of the shuttle's engine changes suddenly. There's a second where its trajectory wobbles and then the engine fails completely. The shuttle rocks and starts to plummet back towards the ground. "Huh."

Hux watches the shuttle plummet with unsettlingly blank eyes. Poe tugs at his arm.

"Come on, we need to find the droids. The sooner we get gone, the better."

Hux follows him without comment. BB-8 is lurking close to the X-wing with BB-9e whirring in concern. Poe gets everyone on board and they're in the air faster than any of the emergency response ships are. He goes for space as fast as he can get them there and BB-8 is already plotting a route back via some mostly abandoned moons.

It's full night on world when Poe sets the X-wing down. Hux unfolds from the jump seat and goes to let BB-9e out. Poe climbs out after him. The silence is awkward suddenly and he scruffs a hand through his hair. Hux shoulders the leather satchel and looks at him.

"This is goodbye, then."

"Hopefully," Poe winces. "I mean-"

"You never want to need to use your 'failsafe'," Hux lifts a shoulder. "You shouldn't need to. There are no clear candidates left and the less-desirable candidates are likely finding a career trajectory with less fatal outcomes."

"Thank you," Poe says. It comes out awkward and he can't make it less awkward but he really could not have done what Hux did.

"Don't mention it," Hux's lip curls and he turns back to the trees. Poe lifts a hand in a sort of wave but Hux pretty much disappears into the dark without looking back.

* * *

Poe keeps his ears open for the weeks after the mission. He thinks it's worked? The Senate gives statements and speeches decrying the 'Remnant faction' and violence. The news feeds track it for a couple of days before the latest political drama nudges it off the top billing.

He spends some time on Coruscant, unofficially as part of General Organa's security and manages to get a couple of minutes with Lt. Connix in Intelligence. He mentions the rumour about the Knights of Ren as something he picked up.

"Didn't get much detail," he says, "nobody really wanted to talk about it to the X-wing pilot."

"I can imagine," she says wryly. "Thanks for bringing it to me. We know a couple of them ran before the Order fell but we don't know where. If the Remnant faction was any more cohesive, I'd worry more but none of them are likely to be able to rally the old military."

"Good to hear," Poe offers her a smile and gets out of her office.

He's in the antechamber of General Organa's office when Ben comes by. Poe freezes. Ben looks rough, at least around the eyes. He has his hood up and a scarf wrapped around his face. He kinda looks like Kylo Ren, for all that his robe is dark brown instead of black. Ben glances at him and Poe flinches. Ben flinches right back.

It'd be ridiculous, if Poe's heart wasn't hammering in his chest.

He gets his feet under him, back to the wall and consciously keeps his hands away from his belt where his blaster currently isn't. Ben stops in the middle of the room. Poe can't make himself meet the other man's eyes.

"Ben?" General Organa's voice breaks the silence. "What is it?"

"I-we have word that the Knights," he swallows, "the Knights are reaching out to the Remnant faction."

"We expected that," the General says.

Poe edges for the door. Ben is gesturing and he hooks his fingers in the air and-!

And Poe is outside, wall solid against his back and breath wheezing through his throat. He's got his head between his knees and his arms are shaking. His mouth is heavy with saliva and his throat tastes of acid. He has to blink a couple of times to clear his eyes.

"You okay?" Finn. Finn's voice. Finn's hand on his shoulder. Finn's shape blocking out the light.

"Peachy," Poe manages and he doesn't need to see Finn roll his eyes to know he's done it.

"What happened?"

Poe swallows thickly and shakes his head. "Bad memory. Just caught me off guard, that's all."

"You really don't look good," Finn says, then hurriedly adds "Not that you don't look good in general! I mean you don't look good on a you-scale which is still, like, off the scale for everyone else because that's how scales work and why aren't you making me stop!?"

"Hey, it's nice to hear," Poe scrapes up a smile. "Gotta take my compliments where I can, you know?"

"You, of all people in the Galaxy, don't need to go fishing for compliments," Finn tells him. "Was it Ben?"

Poe feels his face blank and Finn nods before Poe can manage any kind of excuse. He looks away, looks down the glossy corridor filled with glossy droids and glossy people who never fired a blaster or ran for their lives. Finn squeezes his shoulder and Poe is grateful that if anyone had to see this, it was Finn.

"Wanna go grab some kaf?" Finn suggests and Poe forces a smile.

"Maybe something stronger."

Finn takes him off to a small tea-room off the Senatorial suites and they drink kaf and talk about droids and ships for an hour. Rey comes in as the sun is tapering off behind the towers. There's a shadow behind her that might be Ben but Poe refuses to look closer. Finn says his goodbyes reluctantly and Poe tries to make his smile as genuine as possible.

Once Finn is gone, Poe goes looking for a cantina.

* * *

Hyperspace cuts away to the familiar blue-gray planet. Poe hits atmo fast, heat flaring along the wings. He's looking for Hux almost before they break through the clouds and thank the Force, he sees him immediately; a slim black figure in the grey. The message can't have gotten here much before Poe did. He'd barely left BB-8 time to transmit before they were jumping into hyperspace.

Hux is running for the X-wing almost before it touches down. BB-9e hops up onto the wing and exchanges a rapid series of beeps with BB-8 before compressing down to slot into the space behind the jump seat. Hux climbs in and Poe has the hatch down and the X-wing pointed at the stars before he's even strapped in.

"Are we sure that it's the Knights of Ren?" Hux demands as they re-enter hyperspace.

"Not completely," Poe says, "but grabbing three Jedi off Naboo? Gotta be Force-Users and the only organization we know about are the Knights."

"Point," Hux pulls out a data pad. "I suppose it's too much to hope any of them had trackers?"

"Nope," Poe says.

"Do we have any idea where they might have gone?"

"The pilot they knocked out thinks they said something about Hutt space," Poe shrugs.

"Ha," Hux shakes his head. "Naboo has searched for them?"

"Enough that they're pretty sure they were taken off-planet," Poe says. "Republic peace officers are still looking. There were a couple of ships that made it to hyperspace before the alarm was raised but we don't know where they went."

Hux hums. "Do you have the scan data?"

"Yeah, I think so?"

Hux taps at the data-pad, eyes narrowed while Poe tries to read his expression through the mirror he finally got around to propping on the console. It feels like forever before Hux raises his head and sticks the data-pad through the gap so Poe can grab it.

"There," the pad is showing a tracer route. "They went there."

"How-?"

"Who did you think came up with the tracer technology?" Hux was already digging in his satchel.

"Huh," Poe pokes at the nav-com. They drop out of hyperspace long enough for BB-8 to plot their new course and they're gone again. Hux is concentrating on whatever he's pulled out of his bag.

"There's a temple on that planet. It's approximately fifty klicks from the nearest settlement. They are going to be there."

"Oh? How do you figure that?"

"It was a Sith-derived order," Hux leans forward enough that Poe can see his eyes roll. "The Knights saw themselves as the natural heirs to the Sith. Something like this would be irresistible."

"I thought that was all Ren."

"Kylo Ren was obsessed with his grandfather." Hux's voice flattens out. "He considered the Sith as much a failure as the Jedi."

"Did not know that," Poe says as they hit atmosphere. The planet unfolds beneath them and Hux's seat creaks as he leans forward. Smoke and ash plumes up from the volcanic vents and Hux sits back with a huff.

"I am starting to think the Dark Side addles the mind."

"You and me both," Poe says. He banks around some jagged rocks as they fly into a mountain range. It's hard to make out the details but he can just about see walls around some of the higher peaks. BB-8 whistles across the coms and Poe cranes his neck. "Yeah, I see them, buddy. There's three shuttles down there."

"Can we land without them seeing?" Hux peers around him.

"Yeah, hang on," Poe banks around a broken volcano and lands on a slick field of obsidian. Hux stands as soon as the hatch slides back. BB-8 ejects BB-9e from the hold and Hux points at the most intact buildings.

"Scout." Something in his tone has shifted. Poe's shoulders bunch reflexively. "What weapons did you bring?"

Poe drops a hand to his blaster. Hux flicks him an irritated glance before looking back at the ruins. "Did you bring any weapons that aren't immediately going to alert every sentient in two klicks to your location?"

"Two clicks is an exaggeration," Poe huffs.

Hux rolls his eyes. "Do you actually know how to use a blade?"

"I do!" Poe doesn't like knives. He gives up too much reach to most standard sentients and generally, if he needs to fight someone, he'd rather do it from as far away as possible.

Hux digs through his pack and produces a pair of vicious looking fighting knives. Poe accepts them reluctantly and Hux glances back at him. "Lose the flightsuit. Too conspicuous."

Poe looks down at the dingy orange suit and strips without comment. BB-9e comes zooming back over the crest of the hill, stealth setting tapering off. Poe misses most of the details; the droid is using some form of Binary shorthand that must have come from the First Order. Hux listens intently and BB-9e brings up a projection. A map.

"All right," Hux says after a minute. "Here's what we're going to do."

* * *

Three hours later, Poe is running through erratic volcanic vents and firing wildly over his shoulder as he tries to keep two wobbling Jedi from falling into said vents. Blaster fire punches through the steam. Less fire than there was. Poe can hear the occasional scream.

"Keep going!"

Ben's feet skid on the slick rock and Poe grabs his arm. The nerf-herder is _heavy_. There's a moment where he stops firing. He hauls Ben upright, sees a shadow. There's a shot. The shadow falls. Poe shoves Ben into a run.

He hears a whistle and there's an urgent beeping.

"I hear you, buddy!" Poe pushes himself. "Rey, go left."

"'za BB-?" Finn slurs into his ear.

"You know it!" Poe lies with a smile. He tips Finn back onto his own feet. He can hear running steps behind him. Ahead, Rey goes skidding off the path. A blaster bolt punches through the mist where her head was. "Okay, new plan! Run!"

Rey finds a niche that they can crowd into. The footsteps from behind them go past while Poe gasps for breath. They're running again as soon as the footsteps fade. He reckons they're about a klick from the hill that's hiding his X-wing. They're not going to make it to the hill. Poe curses under his breath.

Ben slumps into him. His boots skid on the slick rock. There's a split second of heart-hollowing terror. All he can see is the dull red glow underneath. They're gonna fall! Then Finn has his shirt in his hand and pulls. They going lurching back across the path.

Poe gets his feet under himself enough to steady them all. Rey is staring around, eyes wide and quivering like a hunted animal. Poe has to gulp in a couple of lungfuls of acrid air as he desperately wracks his brain for something —anything!

The whistle from off the left, followed by a rapid sequence of beeps, brings his head up. _The shuttles!_ "Come on! We're nearly there!"

"Nearly where?" Finn pants even as he shoulders some of Ben's dead weight.

"Just around the corner," Poe promises. Rey pokes her head around the corner and her voice rings out joyfully.

"Shuttles!" Poe jostles Ben forward, keeping an ear on the sound of blaster fire in the distance.

"All right, everyone on!" Poe shouts.

He lingers outside long enough to disable the remaining shuttles. He looks around as discreetly as possible and breathes a silent sigh of relief as the mist eddies oddly. He hurries up the ramp, hoping the others don't notice the faint sound of metal-on-metal under his own footsteps. Finn's head jerks around and Poe freezes.

"What about BB-8? You're not leaving-?!"

He's cut off by the sound of familiar blasters firing overhead. Finn looks around just in time to see the X-wing's thrusters pass the viewport. Poe manages to slap on a slightly manic smile. "Right there, buddy!"

"We need to go!" Rey is strapping herself into the pilot seat. Poe glances at her shaking hands and throws himself into the co-pilot seat. He reaches for the coms, spinning the dial to a familiar frequency.

"Edge-North station, okay?" He gets an answering whistle and turns to the nav-com to punch in the coordinates even as the X-wing loops past them, blasters opening up on the shuttles still on the pad. Poe watches it bank and rise through the atmosphere ahead of them. It vanishes as soon as it hits space. The shuttle's nav-com is clunkier but the stars smear into a blaze of light only seconds later.

Poe sighs in relief, barely registering the way Rey collapses back into her seat. He cranes his neck to look back into the main compartment. "You guys okay back there?"

"Fine!" Finn's laugh is a little shrill. "I mean, I hurt like hell: my brain feels like some-one kicked it around in the dirt but we're out! We're okay!"

"Yeah, we are!" Poe doesn't even try to hide his smile. "Close one that time, though. I karking hate lava planets. Stupid Sith-wannabes and their kriffing melodrama!"

Ben's sudden bark of laughter jolts him almost out of his seat. Rey steadies him with an outstretched hand. Ben clears his throat, a wet miserable sound. "Sorry, sorry. You just...reminded me of someone. Someone I used to know."

Poe settles back into his seat, peering warily back. Ben is huddled by a bulkhead, folded in on himself with his mouth twisted and eyes on the floor. He thinks Ben's eyes might be red but he can't tell for sure. Finn looks at him and shrugs. Poe sits back with a huff of breath.

The rendezvous point is a small space-port on a nearby world. It's mainly a trading hub for mushroom traders. There is some minor smuggling, nothing terribly lucrative or criminal. It does have decent communications links. Rey goes to contact Skywalker; Finn herds Ben off to one side to mop up some of the blood on his face before the local security sees him.

Poe manages to duck out without anyone noticing. He jogs out to where the X-wing is parked among mossy growths. He hears BB-8 before he's gotten close enough to notice anything but the shoddy landing. "` _MALFUNCTION!_` "

"Kriff," Poe picks up the pace. "What sort of malfunction, buddy?"

He's going to have a hell of a time getting Hux off-world and back to his own planet without anyone noticing if his ship is out of order. He's not even sure Hux was on board, though BB-8 doesn't have access to the weapons systems so it's a pretty sure bet. BB-8 whistles, head spinning and bobbling in agitation.

The hatch is open and Poe boosts himself up to the lip of the cockpit. The first thing he sees is the blood on the controls. The hiss of breath from the jump seat stalls his leaping heart-rate; Hux is clearly still alive at least. He hops into the seat, taking a quick look back at the port; no sign of anyone. He sees a flash of corpse-white skin in the mirror and twists around, reaching to pull at singed robes to get a better look.

"Don't." Hux's voice is barely audible. His eyes look clear so Poe sits back. He's more worried about the vivid red staining Hux's lips. There's bruising starting to break out across the left side of his face. And that's just what Poe can see.

"You need help!" Poe snaps. Hux's gaze flicks over his shoulder and his lips press together.

"Not here." Hux presses himself back, ducking into the shadow and hissing as he obviously jars something painful.

"Stubborn kriffing nerf-herder," Poe mutters. "All right, give me a few minutes. Stay here, okay?"

"Where exactly are you imagining I'm going to go?" Hux grumbles.

Poe vaults back out of the cockpit. BB-8 is still bobbling in distress and whistles reprovingly; not impressed at Poe's 'repair'. Finn comes out the door, looking a bit more relaxed and Poe crouches down to BB-8's level. "Go find 9e, okay? Get her stowed away as fast as you can and I'll be right back. Start plotting a course to Mad'ath's place, okay?"

He straightens up and starts jogging back to meet Finn.

"Everything okay?" Finn turns to keep pace with him.

"No," Poe chooses his words carefully, trying to look distracted. Finn knows how Poe feels about his ship so he shouldn't go looking too deep. "She took some damage in that little fight we had."

"How bad?"

"Nothing I can't fix," Poe says, "if they have the right parts. I might have to go looking."

"Rey's found some traders who know General Organa," Finn says. "They're going to bring us back to the Core."

"That's good." Poe glances at him. "They have good security? I don't know how many Knights are left."

Finn nods. "A couple of bounty hunters are working to pay their passage. We could ask them to fit her on one of their freighters."

Poe shakes his head. "We need to leave a false trail. Those guys could be following us."

"We sold the shuttle," Finn says. "It's gotta be in like a thousand pieces by now."

"So if they're tracking anything, they're tracking my ship." Poe waves a hand. "I'll go, leave some false trails and you'll be safely back with Skywalker before they realize."

"You're not going off on your own! Are you crazy?!" Finn grabs his shoulder, hauling him around. "What if they catch you?"

"They're not gonna catch me." Poe catches his elbow. "Best pilot in the Resistance, remember?"

"I'm coming with you."

"No! You're the one they're actually after," Poe shakes Finn's arm. "They're not going to waste time chasing me once they sense I'm not Force-Sensitive."

"They'll just blow you up!" Finn half-shouts.

"Who's blowing us up?" Rey's voice comes from inside the open door. Poe looks around but there's no sign of Ben.

"Poe's trying to run off and leave a false trail," Finn tattles immediately, "with a broken X-wing!"

"Broken?!" Rey peers past them.

"She's not broken!" Poe glares at him. "Just a malfunctioning part, I told you!"

"The station has a lot of spare parts," Rey says. "I'm sure they have a spare somewhere, we just have to find it. What part is it?"

"A magnetic galvonic stabilizer," Poe says with absolute confidence. Rey and Finn look at each other and there's a wavering second where Poe can feel them wondering. He keeps his expression fixed, mentally imagining a flashy-looking part. Rey blinks.

"Of course," she looks back at the station. "I didn't see one, but I'm sure someone must have a spare."

"Here's hoping," Poe says and follows them back into the station. He's trying not to think about internal bleeding or his secret co-pilot at all. It's like trying not to think of a rathtar while inching around in the same swamp as one. Rey drags them to every single trader, none of whom can produce Poe's imaginary part.

"Look," Poe says finally. "I know where I can get the part. It's not a big deal. She's good for two jumps before it _has_ to be replaced. Shouldn't take more than a day or two."

"A day?" Finn objects.

"Or two," Poe says, holding up his hands. "It's gonna be fine. I've done this before, remember?"

"We could ask Ben," Rey says and Poe winces away from the thought. "Oh."

Her expression shifts to pity and it takes a beat for Poe to realize she must think he's trying to avoid Ben. She's not even wrong so Poe grits his teeth. Finn is scowling fiercely and Poe claps his shoulder. "I'll be back before you know it, buddy!"

"Do you promise?" Finn fixes him with an intent stare.

"I promise," Poe says immediately and some of the tension goes out of Finn's shoulders.

"I still don't like this," he says, "but okay. I guess."

"I'll be back before you know it," Poe promises. "Take care of yourselves, okay?"

"We will," Rey promises.

Poe squeezes Finn's wrist and turns back to his ship. He doesn't look back but he can almost feel Finn's eyes on his back the whole way. BB-8 is already in place, complaining in a continuous low beep. He vaults into the cockpit. "Everything stowed and ready?"

"` _Malfunction remains,_` " BB-8 complains. "` _Course plotted._` "

"Punch it," Poe says, turning the X-wing's nose to the sky. The engines kick and there's a little wobble.

"Stablizers," Hux says. "Landing was rough."

"No problem," Poe says as they hit orbit and the planet disappears. "How are you holding up?"

"Fine," Hux says, immediately starting to cough. It's a wet, miserable sound.

"Hang tight," Poe says. "I know a guy."

"Only one?"

"How did I never know you had a sense of humour?" Poe wonders.

"It was hardly becoming of a General of the First Order."

"You were Grand Marshal," Poe says, remembering Phasma's insistence.

"Even less so for a Grand Marshal," Hux says. "Admittedly, there was no prior example to draw from there."

They drop out of hyperspace with a bump that makes Hux snarl. "Sorry, sorry!"

"It's fine," Hux sounds like he's speaking through clenched teeth.

"It will be," Poe turns the X-wing to the station floating over the looming gas giant. "Just, let me do the talking."

"With pleasure."

The station master, a garrulous Rodan called Spire, recognizes Poe's transponder and welcomes him aboard. Spire insists on shaking Poe's hand and hearing all the news. Poe is polite, trying not to peer over his shoulder.

"You have a passenger," Spire says suddenly and Poe turns just in time to see Hux's feet hit the deck. He sees the flinch but Hux straightens without making a sound.

"Yeah, ran into him on Tatooine," Poe says. "Needs some medical attention. Is R'th still here?"

"She will be here long after I'm space dust," Spire laughs. "I'll tell her to expect you."

"Thank you." Poe sketches a wave and darts over to Hux. "I said to take it easy."

"I'm fine," Hux gritted out.

"The doc's just this way," Poe hovers but Hux moves like he's on a parade ground, straight-backed and proud. His breath hisses between his teeth with every step but the only reason Poe knows that is because he's right beside him.

The doc, R'th, welcomes them to her slightly grubby rooms with a pleasant trill and her protocol droid whirs to life. "Good morning, sirs. My mistress bids you welcome on this fine day and asks your business here?"

"I need you to check out my friend here," Poe says. "Picked him up in Tatooine on the wrong side of a brawl."

R'th warbles. The droid listens for a moment. "My mistress is happy to help."

"You gonna behave for the nice lady?" Poe says, trying to convey ' _don't be a kriffing Imperial for Force's sake_ just through tone.

Hux surprises him by answering, not in Basic but in a fluting language that sounds familiar but incomprehensible.

"Ah!" The droid turns to R'th. "The gentleman says that he regrets imposing on you for mere trifles but his companion is insistent."

R'th coils her mandibles in a smile and points to the cot. Hux lowers himself onto the bed with a barely audible groan and R'th flutters around him, pulling gadgets out of drawers with one set of limbs while jabbing a needle into Hux's arm with another. Hux says nothing, just turns his gaze to a scorch mark on the opposite walls and stares at it.

R'th clucks and hums disapprovingly. The droid turns jerkily to look at Poe. "My mistress says that the damage is quite extensive. Your companion must be in great pain."

"What sort of damage?"

R'th brings up the read-out on a screen and Poe has to blink twice before it really registers. The image must be of Hux's ribs, the general shape is right but every bone is a mosaic of cracks and deformation. He can't believe the man can karking breathe like this! R'th jabs a finger at two ribs that look like they're exploding, chips of bone floating free.

"My mistress says, ah. She says some of this is old. It was never properly treated and thus it never healed correctly. This cannot simply be a single attack, she says. He will need extensive intervention."

"Whatever she thinks she needs to do," Poe says, staring with a sick sort of fascination. What had Phasma said about putting him in medical? Weekly? This damage...he feels sick just looking at the scan. He wrenches his gaze away and looks at Hux who is still staring at the wall. His hands are curled into fists but his expression is empty.

R'th says something that involves a lot of gesticulation and the droid says "My mistress recommends a period of bacta immersion and infusion to heal the worst of the damage and prevent further injury. It will not be cheap."

"It's fine," Poe says. R'th is only expensive by the standards of a Rim world. "Whatever she needs to do."

R'th says something else but this time the droid speaks in the same language Hux used. Hux blinks, angling his head to look at her. His eyes dart back to Poe and his mouth twitches. He says something that makes R'th cluck her tongues and turns his attention back to the wall.

"Everything okay?" Poe says.

"Everything is in order, sir. My mistress says that you may perform any outstanding errands while she works as the immersion will be for two station hours and your presence will not be necessary."

"Okay," Poe waves a hand at BB-8. "I'm going to leave my droid, in case you need to find me in a hurry, all right?"

The droid looks to R'th who waves a secondary limb dismissively. "That would be acceptable."

"Okay, so I'll see you in a couple of hours," Poe says to Hux. The former General nods, never looking away from the wall.

He steps out into the waiting room, hesitates and looks around. "9e, are you here?"

There's an immediate beep from the corner by the door.

"Great," he turns to the door out to the station. "Come with me, I need your help."

"` _I am not programmed to assist with ships such as yours_` " 9e beeps quietly.

"Not with the ship," Poe says in a whisper. "I need to do some shopping and if I ask your owner what he wants, I'm pretty sure he'll say 'nothing'."

"` _If he says he requires nothing,_` " 9e says slowly.

"He's being proud," Poe says. "The doc says that he's been hurting. I want to get him some things that will help him recover."

9e doesn't respond and Poe can't see her. He keeps walking because they're in a walkway with other beings and he doesn't want to draw attention. He's nearly to the shopping quarter when he hears a barely audible beep from just left of his knee.

"` _Kaf would be most beneficial._` "

"You got it," Poe says with a smile. They spend the next ninety minutes or so, browsing the shops and every time 9e spots something that might be useful, she bumps into Poe's knee. He gets the impression that she thinks the results are some sort of lavish reward for the mission. He looks at the small crate that holds four boxes of ready-brew kaf, two warm blankets and an old data-pad filled with technical manuals, complete with an old holo-display and thinks again that the First Order was a nightmare.

He stows their shopping away in the hold and goes back to R'th's waiting room. BB-8 pokes its head out and whistles a greeting. R'th's droid follows it out. "Welcome back, sir! I am happy to report that your ...companion's condition is much improved. My mistress will be out momentarily to discuss further treatment and, ah, the bill."

"It's fine," Poe assures the droid.

The bill is high, almost what he'd pay for a preliminary appointment with a medic in the Core. Poe pays without flinching. R'th gives him a bag of bacta patches and medication and a strict set of instructions. Poe nods and makes notes. He'll give the file to BB-9e before they leave.

R'th pats his shoulder. "She says that you are a good man, sir."

"Thank you," Poe jerks a thumb at the door to the treatment room. "Can I...?"

"Of course, sir," the droid shuffles to the lock and taps in a code.

Hux is on his feet, unsurprisingly. He's looking around the room with a faintly distracted look. His hair is still wet from the bacta but the bruising is gone and he looks to be breathing just a bit easier. He draws his shirt closed as soon as he sees Poe; there's a scar over his left pectoral that looks ugly.

"Problem?" Poe says.

"I lost-" Hux gestures with his right hand and Poe sees a ball-chain hanging from his fingers. "It doesn't matter, I suppose."

"I don't see it," Poe says, looking around.

Hux shrugs a shoulder, lips pulled down. He shrugs into the dusty cloak he'd worn for the mission and Poe holds the door open. He thanks R'th on the way out and Hux says something in that weird language. They get back to the ship with no-one paying them much attention; it's night-time on the station and most of the inhabitants are in bed or busy.

Hux climbs back into the jump seat without any hitch in his breathing. Poe breathes a silent sigh of relief. He waits until the cockpit's sealed and they're taking off before he asks. "So what were you saying in there? I didn't recognize that language."

"I would be surprised if you had," Hux sounds amused. "It's a slave dialect, exclusive to Hutt planets."

"How-?"

"Intelligence gathering," Hux yawns. "Slaves who wanted to escape were very lucrative informants."

"Huh," Poe could see that. "What did you say?"

"She was asking if you'd stolen me," Hux says, voice drowsy. "Wanted to know if I needed to be rescued from you."

"Surprised you didn't say yes," Poe admits.

"I told you," Hux is looking up at the stars, Poe sees in the mirror, "there's nowhere I want to go."

Poe swallows the lump in his throat. "And the injuries?"

"Hmm? Oh, those." Hux closes his eyes and tugs his cloak around him. "Mostly Snoke's doing."

"And Ren?"

Sharp eyes open, catching his in the mirror.

"Was less restrained in his temper," Hux says icily. "Snoke intended prolonged pain. He never incapcitated me. Ren-...Ren just wanted an outlet. Me. The junior officers. The consoles. He was hardly picky."

"And you still saved his life," Poe says.

Hux snorts. "So did you. Despite the fact that he hurt you too."

"I was saving Finn," Poe taps to accept the route BB-8 has fed into the nav-com. "And Rey, of course. He was just...also there."

"Strange how that works," Hux says tartly, shifting so all Poe can see is the dirty cloak. The rest of the flight passes in silence.

It's just after dawn in the clearing as Poe sets them down and he's starting to yawn himself, aches from a very long, very demanding day. Hux climbs out of the cockpit while Poe gets BB-9e and the box of supplies, now including all of Hux's medical supplies.

"What is that?"

"The doc said you needed follow-up care," Poe says.

"I hardly think-"

"And since you probably won't do it, I'm delegating to BB-9e and making sure she has sufficient supplies to complete her task."

Hux stares at him, brows practically in his hairline and Poe hands the crate off to BB-9e with a flourish.

"We should probably be getting back," he says. "Finn wasn't thrilled that I took off like that."

"He's hardly going to follow you here," Hux says, almost visibly deciding not to argue about the crate. It's fine, Poe has faith in BB-9e. The First Order doesn't seem to have altered the base BB personality matrix that much. "But yes, you should probably go."

"Hey," Poe stops on the edge of the cockpit. "Thanks. For today. I wouldn't have been able to get them out like that on my own."

"Obviously," Hux's mouth quirks into something like a smile. "Go, reassure your Jedi that you found a, what was it, 'magnetic galvonic stabilizer'? Before your ship fell apart."

"Heard that, huh," Poe shrugs and pulls his helmet on. "Take care of him, all right, BB-9e?"

He hears an affirmative whistle and the last thing he sees is Hux rolling his eyes before the thrusters send him back up to the stars.

* * *

"Just stop wiggling, would you!" Poe mops his brow with the back of his hand and glares at BB-8.

"` _Itches!_` " BB-8 insists.

"You don't have nerves," Poe grumbles. "You can't be itchy! Let me get that panel off and we'll see."

"Is there a problem?" Ben's voice startles him so badly that he drops the wrench, and the panel, on his foot.

"Fracking, kriffing karking _fuck_!"

Both wrench and panel lift off his foot without anyone touching them. Poe twists around to glare at the dark figure in the doorway.

"I'm sorry," Ben holds up his hands.

"It's fine," Poe grabs his wrench and shuffles so he has a clear sightline on the door before he hunkers down to fiddle with BB-8's gyro-motors. The removed panel settles gently down beside him. "What's up?"

"I came," Ben pauses. Swallows. "I came to say thank you."

Poe glances up at him, then straight back at BB-8's insides. He can see, just behind the gears...metal, he thinks. "For what?"

"For rescuing us. Me. Us." Ben chews at his lip. "I know how you feel about me."

"You really don't," Poe says, glaring up at him. He's not afraid anymore. He doesn't think he's been afraid of Ben since that treatment room, staring at the scrapyard of bone where there should have been a ribcage. He's kriffing _furious_.

"It's okay," Ben shrugs his shoulders, eyes flicking around the room. "Ky- _I_ hurt you."

"That doesn't exactly make me special now, does it?"

Ben flinches and Poe bites his tongue to keep from snapping. He turns back to BB-8, manages to get his fingers under the delicate gears and-and he yelps. Sharp corner! Ben rocks forward, not quite a step. "What's wrong?"

"BB-8 picked up something on that last mission," Poe says, distracted by the sting and trying to get a grip on the little sliver of metal. "Something _itchy_."

He snags it, more luck than skill and pulls it out. It's a square-ish piece of metal, three corners rounded off and one snapped. He doesn't realize what he's holding until he tips it to the light enough to see "HUX, ARMITAGE" stamped into the metal. He drops it immediately, trying for dismissive. Anything to keep the looming shape behind him from looking. "See, there you go, BB-"

"What is that?" Ben is staring at the mangled dog-tag. Poe feigns nonchalance.

"Just some scrap, probably from the planet," he goes to pick it back up and it flies across the room. Ben catches it, _cradles_ it in his hands. "Hey!"

Ben's head jerks up, hands curling protectively to his chest. He's practically snarling at Poe. Poe gets his feet under him, hand tightening around his wrench. BB-8 whistles. Ben looks down at the dogtag and his whole face twists into something aching and agonized.

"Scrap, you said." He shakes his hair back from his face. "You don't need it."

"I-"

"It's _mine_!" Ben really does snarl this time, backing up until his shoulder hits the doorframe. He spins, dogtag still cradled to his chest like something precious and fragile, and disappears.

"Kriffing Sith bloody _hells_!" Poe's shoulders drop. He can't exactly chase the man down. He can't ask Rey or Finn for help; he'd have to explain what the thing is. Hux must have lost it in his rush to get to the X-wing. Poe drops back to sit on his haunches and tries to convince himself that it doesn't matter.

The Knights practically had a scrapyard of First Order salvage strewn around their base. It's not _likely_ that any of that scrap contained a broken dog tag but it's not _impossible_ either. Poe bites his lip and decides he's just going to have to bluff his way through any questions.

BB-8 trills miserably and Poe shakes himself out of his thoughts. "Sorry, buddy. Lemme get that panel re-installed and you'll be good as new."

* * *

He doesn't hear a word about it in the end. Finn comes looking for him about half an hour after Ben disappeared. He looks relieved to see Poe polishing BB-8 and talking about upgrades. (Poe wants to upgrade the thrusters, BB-8 thinks they need to upgrade the stabilizers first.)

"You want to get something to eat?"

"I could be persuaded," Poe stands up and stretches until his back cracks.

Finn's smile is dazzling. "There's a restaurant just past the 'port. The food is amazing."

"Sounds good!"

Poe lets Finn gently steer the conversation to Ben as they walk through the crowded corridors. He can feel Finn kinda nudging against his mind; nothing deep or intrusive. It's nothing like having Kylo Ren digging in, especially the way the nudging cuts away the second Poe rolls his shoulders.

"I don't like the guy," he says honestly, "but I'm not afraid of him. Not anymore."

"That's good," Finn hums as they dodge past two Twi'lek who are arguing about something. "What changed?"

"I talked to some people who knew," Poe glances at the crowd around them and lowers his voice, " _Ren_ and honestly, it kind of sounds like I got off easy."

"It wasn't- What he did to you, it just wasn't right!" Finn says, all wide-eyed sincerity.

"I didn't say it was," Poe holds up his hands. "I'm just saying, I was there a couple of hours, tops, before your daring rescue."

Finn clears his throat. "It wasn't _daring_ , I was desperate. I wanted to run away!"

"And you did," Poe grins at him. Finn's all kinds of adorable when he's trying to argue his way out of being called a hero.

They get to the restaurant, Finn now talking about his training and lighting up as he describes how Master Skywalker complimented him on his form. Poe bumps elbows and beams at him.

"It's..." Finn trails off, eyes going distant. "It's weird, okay. But it's kinda like when I got promoted to the FN corps? Like, that kind of feeling?"

"You were promoted?" Poe asks. Finn doesn't talk about his time as a 'trooper and Poe has been careful not to ask.

"Yeah, right out of training," Finn's mouth quirks like he's trying to smile. "The last round of tests. It was really scary too."

"Scary?"

"The General was observing," Finn says like that's an explanation.

"Who, Hux?"

"General Hux," Finn nods. "I thought I was going to be sick."

"He was that scary?" Poe huffs. "I always thought that Captain, Phasma?, was scarier."

Finn shakes his head immediately. "The Captain was intimidating but, on Starkiller? I wasn't afraid of her. I had my name and she couldn't scare me."

"You didn't think of grabbing Hux?" Poe asks idly.

"General Hux wouldn't have lowered the shields." Finn says with absolute certainty. "He wasn't afraid of anything. He used to shout at Kylo Ren when he was destroying things."

"Sounds like a tough guy," Poe picks out a table.

"He wasn't..." Finn hesitates. "He wasn't as strong as Phasma. Not physically. The General was ...inexorable. If he wanted something done, it got done. He never backed down from anyone or anything. We got lucky, you know? If Hux had been Supreme Leader, the First Order would never have surrendered."

"You're not the first person to say that to me," Poe says and rolls his shoulders. "We got lucky with that hit on the _Finalizer_ , huh?"

Finn nods fervently and Poe manages to distract him with the menu. The food is really good and Poe is just eyeing a potential third dessert when Finn breaks off mid-sentence and turns to look at the door. Rey comes bursting through and Poe doesn't need the Force to tell that something's up. He and Finn push up from the table and Poe checks his blaster.

"I cannot _believe_ him!" Rey says, swinging her hands out wide. "He's just _unbelievable_!"

"...Ben?" Finn guesses.

"Yes!" Rey huffs. "He's sulking and he won't tell me why!"

"Sulking doesn't exactly sound out of character," Poe says uncomfortably. "I mean, as long as he's not destroying things —he's not, is he?— then we're fine, right?"

"He's meditating." Rey sighs. "I don't even know what he's meditating on and he won't tell me!"

Poe counts enough credits to cover the bill. He's suddenly not hungry. Finn is consoling Rey with the ease of long practice. He hooks his fingers in his belt, feeling a little helpless. Rey waves her hands. "I just don't understand! He won't talk to me!"

"Maybe he doesn't want to," Poe offers. "Talk, that is. He never struck me as the talking kind. The monologuing kind of guy? That I could see."

Rey looks dubious and folds her arms uncomfortably. Finn looks about as awkward as Poe feels. It doesn't seem entirely fair, Poe thinks, that he has to waste this much mental space on Kylo fracking Ren after they won the war against the guy. He's carefully not thinking about any other reason that Ben might be brooding.

"The Gener-the _Senator_ wants us to track down the Knights of Ren," Rey says, lowering her voice as she takes a belated glance around the mostly-empty dining hall. "He's the best person to do this but he won't help!"

"Tracking those guys down," Poe picks at the thread of his belt's stitching. "That sounds...risky."

"We have to find them," Rey says, lifting her chin. "We have to stop them!"

Poe steals a glance at Finn, dubious but resigned and rolls his shoulders stiffly. "What do you need me to do?"

* * *

Two weeks later, just as Poe is giving up on ever finding the nerf-herders, they're on another dusty rock and everything goes wrong at once. It starts with Rey getting tangled up in a bar fight that splits her lip and leaves her a little unsteady on her feet. Ben punches the guy who punched her which escalates the fight into a brawl. Finn grabs Rey. Poe shoves the guy who's trying to punch Ben. Things get chaotic.

He's pulling Ben towards the back door of the cantina when Ben's head comes up so sharply that he nearly breaks Poe's nose. He doesn't even notice; staring at the front door with horror in his eyes.

"We have to run!" He hauls clumsily at Poe.

"What?" A blaster bolt misses the crown of his head by milimetres. "Kriff!"

Ben barges through the back door, leading with his shoulder. He hauls Poe along like he's in zero G. Poe sees a flash of violet; Finn's 'sabre. Then someone shoots and the whole alley dissolves into more chaos. Ben gets smacked in the face with the butt of a blaster and half-falls on Poe.

Poe very nearly dumps him on the ground. He doesn't but it's close. Then he hears boots coming around the corner. Marching boots.

"Oh, kriffing hells!"

They run. Poe doesn't dare to stop long enough to look back. They bounce off walls, duck around stalls and unlucky bystanders. They've been turned around so many times that Poe's barely sure which way is up.

"Remnant faction," Ben gasps.

"Fracking _fantastic_ ," Poe spits.

They run some more. Ben's the only Jedi without his light-sabre out. Probably the concussion. Poe can't help but notice that they're starting to fall behind. Rey is a whirlwind of motion, her lightsabre flashing around her like a halo. Poe kicks out. The guy trying to sneak up on them collapses with a scream. Ben's staggering. Concussion. Kriff.

"The-the port's," Ben slurs and waves his left arm.

"Not helpful!"

There are more boots. The sound is echoing off the walls. Poe grits his teeth and drags Ben left. There are more guys. Poe resorts to shoving Ben into one of them. It bowls the guy right over. Poe sees a familiar looking doorway and hauls Ben along. Finn and Rey are bounding through the air. It's still incredible to watch.

On the other side of the doorway, the hanger stretches out in front of them. BB-8 whistles urgently from Poe's right. He pushes Ben that way. Another blaster bolt crackles through the air. The one after that stops mid-air. Ben grunts and Poe pulls him off his feet. The delayed bolt cuts through the air where their heads had been.

"Go! Go! Go!" Finn shouts.

Poe has to shove Ben up and into the cockpit. He's not sure the big lug is even the right way up. He's flipping switches and priming the engines. There's more blaster fire and he sees Rey duck into a shuttle. He looks for Finn. He doesn't see the guy with the heavy blaster. There's a bang from his left wing and BB-8 screams.

"Aw, hell!" Poe starts flicking switches. "We gotta _go_ , BB-8!"

The thrusters fire and the port falls away. He can just see the flash of 'sabres below when all his instruments start wailing. There's a shuttle? Ship of some kind right on their rear thrusters.

"They're going to chase us," Ben says.

"Kriff that," Poe redirects thrusters and they spin up through atmosphere with a scattering of blaster fire chasing them. "BB-8, buddy, I need a destination!"

BB-8 buzzes and squeals as something sparks.

"Destination!" Poe shouts and the nav-com lights up just as the last of the atmosphere turns into stars. He doesn't even check it, just launches them straight into hyperspace. The X-Wing shudders and something in the left wing blows with a bang as they drop back out. Poe barely gets a chance to look at the familiar blue-grey curve before the ship from before pops into existence right beside them.

"Ben?" Poe has to fight the controls to keep them on course. "BEN!"

Ben groans and Poe swears his way through five different languages. The turbulence rocks them back and forth and Poe has to haul on the controls. BB-8 is whirring and yelping in a way that doesn't bode well for a good landing. Then the ship behind them starts firing again.

Poe yanks the control stick back as the branches whack off the bottom of the X-wing. Poe glances left, sees a line of grey smoke trailing off the wing-tip, then forward and there's the clearing. He doesn't have any plans. Hux doesn't know they're coming. All Poe can do is get them on the ground and running for cover.

He kills the engines with ten metres of clearance and they hit the ground hard. It's soft and spongy and they bounce twice before skidding to a stop under the spreading branches of a massive tree. Engines scream overhead as Poe hits the emergency release. He pulls Ben out of the cockpit and shoves him deeper into the forest.

"Come on, come on," Poe sees the glare of thrusters through the mist of the clearing. "We gotta move."

The ship lands heavily and there's an immediate hiss of ramps dropping. Poe doesn't get more than a hasty glance over his shoulder but it looks like an army coming off a drop ship. He looks at Ben who is bleeding from the forehead and blinking stupidly around. BB-8 whistles low and frightened.

"Damn it," Poe doesn't even know which way he should be running. He doesn't know if Hux has heard them. He doesn't know if Hux would even want to help them. Hells, Hux might have been crushed by a tree for all Poe knows but there are a lot of angry people pouring into the woods behind them.

"Leave me," Ben says. "It's me they're after."

"Not a chance," Poe shoves him behind a tree as blaster fire scorches the air.

There's a rapid string of shots, someone screams and Poe manages to get Ben moving again. He hears a shrill undulating shriek of Binary from off to the side.

"BB-8?" Ben lifts his head to stare around muzzily. BB-8 whistles obligingly from beside Poe's knee. It takes a second for Poe to realize and his knees go weak with relief.

"Keep moving!" Ben lumbers into motion.

Poe doesn't know what Hux is planning but he does hear the distinctive crack of a rifle. There's more screaming. He keeps his head down, keeps running as he drags Ben around the clearing.

"What's happening?" Ben keeps looking around.

"Just keep moving!"

BB-9e screams past and Ben trips over himself as he twists around.

"Will you just _move_?!"

"That's not BB-8-" Ben catches his foot in a root and they both go over in a tangle of limbs.

"Kriffing hells!"

There's another round of shooting. Only a handful of people seem to actually be chasing them. There's a string of rapid shots and more bodies fall. Poe pulls Ben along behind him. Ben is staggering, peering around with glazed eyes.

Poe can hear someone shouting. BB-9e shrill past again. Something closes around his ankle and Poe slams face-first into a tree. Then Ben falls over on top of him, driving all the air out of his lungs. Poe chokes and shoves at him. Ben pushes up, reaching out with a hand to deflect a blaster bolt.

The bolt shivers in the air, like he isn't holding it tight enough. Poe manages to roll them into a dip between the tree roots just as two more blaster bolts echo through the trees. There's four —five?— of their pursuers and Poe is still seeing stars. Then a shadow detaches from the trees right behind them. The first two don't see it. The third must see the blade flash but it cuts an arc through their throat before they can bring their blaster up.

The other two abandon Poe and Ben, splitting up to try circle Hux. It's almost laughable. Hux moves like a viper; efficient, clean and deadly. He fights like a criminal. He drops under a swing and drives his fist into his attacker's crotch. The howl of pain startles the other attacker. Hux is already driving up, under their arm. The knife goes up just under the point of their chin. They drop and the blade flashes as Hux spins.

The last attacker rocks back a step or two. They make the fatal mistake of looking over their shoulder. Hux closes the distance, knife held low. The attacker grunts, eyes wide and half-turns their head. Then they topple backward. Hux doesn't move, stiff as a poker.

Poe glances sideways. Ben has a hand flung out, his whole body leaning forward. Poe looks back at Hux's frozen form and knocks his hand aside.

"Fracking _don't_!"

Hux's shoulders drop and he breathes in. It's a slow, sniper breath. Ben is scrabbling to get his feet under him. He hasn't looked away from Hux. He staggers forward like he's caught in a gravitational pull. His eyes are wet and his lips wobble. "H-Hux?"

Hux's head half-turns to the trees before he sighs and turns. "Finally learnt some restraint, I see-"

Ben hugs him. Well, it looks to Poe like Ben is trying to wrap his arms around Hux twice but he's still a little breathless. Ben is shaking and Poe sees Hux's eyes go wide then close. One arm settles delicately around Ben's waist and Hux's free hand hovers for a couple of seconds before sinking into Ben's hair. Ben makes an ugly sound, sobbing like a child and pulling Hux closer.

"I am going to have to breathe eventually," Hux says at last. Ben sobs. "Unless you're here to actually execute me?"

"Never!" Ben straightens, without letting go. He winds up lifting Hux a little off his feet. "Hux, I thought you were _dead_!"

"I'm not the one the assassins were chasing," Hux says. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Ben says dismissively.

"Dameron?" Hux peers around Ben's head. "They didn't hit you, did they?"

"No, you got 'em all." Poe sits up and winces at the damp that's soaked through his flight suit. "Just some bruises. He's almost certainly got a concussion though."

Ben shifts enough to glare at him. Hux snorts, combing his fingers more purposefully though Ben's hair. Ben winces and tries to crowd in even closer. Hux looks at his fingers, lightly stained with blood and sighs.

"Anything else?"

"Uh," Poe decides to risk standing. He has to hang onto the tree to get up but he more or less manages. Hux lifts an eyebrow at him.

"Can you walk?"

"Sure!" Poe wobbles.

Hux pushes at Ben and looks around. "BB-9e?"

"` _Here!_` " The droid reappears, bobbing her head and trilling proudly.

Ben stares down at her. "...you stole my astromech!?"

"You weren't using her," Hux sniffs, disengaging as best he can. "Come on, let's get those injuries seen to."

Ben can't stand up straight or at least, he proves entirely unwilling to let Hux move away from him. Hux supports him, tolerates Poe bumping into him while the droids circle them. It takes them maybe half an hour to walk the klick or so to Hux's house. Hut? Poe kind of wants to call it a tree-house but that wouldn't be accurate and Hux would probably leave him outside to rot.

It's actually pretty well constructed. The walls are straight and solid and there's a low bed with a pile of First Order issued blankets on top of the blankets Poe got him. A small stove is burning and familiar satchels are hanging on the wall. There's a couple of chests, slightly battered black metal with the First Order's hexagon etched on them. Poe thinks of the Resistance Base after Crait.

There's the data-pad on one of them but nothing personal. Hux pushes Ben onto the bed and turns to help Poe sit on one of the chests. He turns to the other chest, pulling out the neatly packaged bacta patches and bandages. Poe squints at him.

"I've used some of them," Hux says without looking around. "BB-9e can confirm."

"` _All instructions completed,_` " BB-9e trills.

Ben frowns at them, fingers tangling in Hux's belt-loops. He blinks up at Hux. "You were hurt?"

"Many times," Hux says tartly. "Hold still."

He mops the blood off Ben's face with surprising care. Poe can't help but notice how Ben's shoulders loosen and he leans into Hux. Hux is careful, sticking strips of bacta patch over the cuts and grazes with precise focus. He runs his hand through Ben's hair when he's done and Ben's eyes close as he leans into Hux. Poe looks away, feeling like he'd walked in on something private.

Ben actually whines like a kid being put to bed on Life Day when Hux breaks contact. He scowls when Hux turns to Poe. "How badly did you injure yourself?"

"Mostly bumps and bruises," Poe says easily.

Hux looks unimpressed, holding up a gloved hand. "How many fingers?"

"Uh," Poe squints. "I mean, the thumb isn't actually a finger, right?"

"So you're concussed as well," Hux sighs and reaches for the bacta patches. "I don't know why I expected you to be any better."

"Hey!" Poe says as Ben's scowl gets darker.

"Let me see," Hux starts poking at him. Poe yelps but submits to the brusque handling. Hux is efficient and quick. Poe ends up with less bandages than Ben but it's pretty close. Hux stands back to look at them. Poe yawns hard enough that his jaw cracks and Ben yawns a second later. Hux rolls his eyes. "You need to sleep. Both of you."

"I'm-" Ben's yawn actually looks painful.

"Sleep," Hux orders.

Ben gets the bed, Poe gets most of the blankets and the floor. He doesn't even argue. Ben is snoring before Poe even gets comfortable. He's gonna make fun of the guy but he blinks and his eyes don't want to open. He thinks he hear's Hux's exasperated huff but his exhaustion just sweeps him away.

There's a bright light and Poe yelps, trying to cover his face with his arms.

"`Good morning!`" BB-8 trills. "`More precisely, good pre-noon. Insufficient data to calculate precise timings of morning and insufficient natives to deduce common usage!`"

"Okay, thanks, buddy." Poe cautiously lifts his arms away from his face and sits up. BB-8 is bobbing merrily beside his pile of blankets. He can see Ben starting to stir on the bed. There's two cups of water on the chest between them with foil-wrapped ration bars propped against them. He doesn't see Hux or BB-9e.

"`Friend:Failsafe and Friend:9E are outside,`" BB-8 chirrups.

"Hux, buddy," Poe says. "His name is _Hux_."

"`Updating...`" BB-8 trills to itself. Poe snags one of the cups of water and the ration bar against it. Ben sits up and Poe flinches from the movement. He looks more like Kylo Ren in the dim light and the way he looks around, with none of the diffidence that Poe associates with Ben. He feels the faintest frisson of fear run down the back of his spine. Ben turns those dark eyes on him.

"Where is Hux?"

"Outside," Poe levers himself up and crams the rest of the ration bar into his mouth.

Ben ignores the remaining cup, rolling out of the bed with an ease that must be down to the Force. He goes straight for the door and Poe follows right after him. There's actually some sunlight filtering down through the branches. It's an artificial creation, he realizes a second later, because Hux has somehow maneuvered his X-wing into the clearing and he and BB-9e are working on the engine.

"Hux!" Ben's voice cracks as he hurries across the hacked-off branches. Poe isn't quite fast enough to catch him.

Hux straightens up, brushing his hair back with a greasy hand. He looks more like an Outer Rim engineer than the First Order's icy Grand Marshal. He doesn't pull away when Ben wraps his arms around him. He does look a little surprised but Poe doesn't see any fear in his eyes. He waits for a second before clearing his throat pointedly. "So, you've been busy."

"There are predators in the deeper forest," Hux says casually. "I couldn't leave the bodies but their ship had several compatible parts. Your ship should be repaired enough to get you back to civilization."

"You jury-rigged my ship?" Poe looks at him skeptically.

"I and the two _astromechs_ effected some field-expedient repairs," Hux pats Ben's shoulder. He doesn't look entirely comfortable but Poe thinks that might just be because Ben hasn't let go of him yet. "I'm not saying that you should engage in a dog-fight or try to out-run anything faster than an ore-hauler. But she'll get you back to a proper port and you can fix her properly there."

"You," Ben says. Poe and Hux exchange slightly baffled glances. Ben takes a step back, keeping a grip on Hux's upper arms. Hux lifts an eyebrow at him. "You said 'you', 'get you back to civilization'."

"Yes?"

"You're not staying here," Ben sounds every inch Kylo Ren and Hux's eyes narrow.

"I'm not-" Hux starts.

"You're not staying here _alone_ ," Ben amends. "If you're not coming with us, I'm not going."

"You can't-" Hux starts, then cuts off with a hiss as Ben's grip on him tightens.

"I thought you were _dead_ ," Ben says, crowding Hux against the side of the X-wing. "The karking Allegiant General told me you'd gone down with your ship. I had to give your kriffing eulogy, Hux! I'm not-! I won't go through that again, Hux. I won't! _I can't_!"

The last words are almost a whisper as Ben presses their foreheads together. Hux's eyes move, searching Ben's face and eyes. Poe can't imagine what he's looking for.

"You're a Jedi," Hux says, almost inaudibly. "You went back-"

"Because I didn't care about the Order or the Dark anymore!" Ben leans into him. "I didn't want them without you."

"I won't-" Hux's throat works and his voice is gruff. "I won't help you reform the Order."

"Fuck the Order," Ben says fiercely. "Fuck the Dark. Fuck the Jedi. I don't care what happens to the Galaxy. I don't want it. I want you. Wherever and whatever that means."

Hux's eyes widen and Ben leans in to press their lips together. Hux doesn't seem to respond for a second then, slowly, he tilts his head and deepens the kiss. Ben's hand comes up to cup his face and one of Hux's hands winds into Ben's hair. Poe is just wondering if he should go back into the hut or maybe throw some water on them when Ben breaks the kiss.

"Here on this dirtball of planet, in the Outer Rim, in the Unknown Regions," he whispers. "I don't _care_. As long as we're together."

Hux's laughter is a little unsteady and Poe can see his eyes close as Ben brushes his lips against Hux's neck. He is starting to feel seriously surplus to requirements here and he also feels, very strongly, that any making out against his ship should involve him. He clears his throat, sees Hux's eyes snap open and Ben glowers at him.

"Okay, so we're all going then." He holds up a hand when Hux goes to protest. "This planet isn't unknown anymore. If those guys were working with the Knights, they might have transmitted the coordinates. Even if they didn't, Ben can't stay here because the Knights might find him through the Force and since he isn't leaving unless you are..."

"You are both idiots," Hux says sourly.

"We're right," Poe says with barely a twinge. "I don't know what's going to happen once we're back in the Republic."

"We'll leave," Ben says, half-turning with Hux still in his arms. "Mother will understand. The Jedi don't really want me there."

"Where are you planning to go?" Hux demands.

"Outer Rim," Ben says. "There's always work for a good pilot and a genius engineer."

"You don't have to go with him," Poe says. Ben glares. "Not if you don't want to, but you can't stay here. It's not safe."

Hux heaves a deep sigh. "We're not going to fit. Your ship is intended for a single organic."

"We'll fit," Ben promises and Hux sighs again, leaning into him. He yawns.

"Did you get any sleep?" Ben shoulders his weight easily as Hux yawns again.

"Had to," he waves a hand. "Fix the ship. Dump the bodies."

Ben's smile is fond as he kisses Hux's hair. Poe has to admit they make a striking pair. He watches the way Ben lets Hux lean more and more into him, shouldering the other man's weight without comment. He notices the way Ben can't tear his eyes away from Hux. Most importantly, he notes the subtle sag in Hux's shoulders, as if he's relaxing for the first time in Poe's experience. He glances down at the droids.

"So, what are we bringing?"

It takes about an hour to sort through Hux's few possessions and reconfigure the X-wing to take cargo and an extra passenger. It's mostly him and Ben doing the work; Hux having clearly spent the whole night cleaning up the bodies of their pursuers. Poe catches him yawning a dozen times before Ben uses the Force to sit Hux on the wing where he can supervise and they can work around him. BB-9e circles under him every few minutes to confirm what Hux wants to bring.

They wind up with BB-9e and two satchels with rifles and a small battered metal box in the hold, Ben in the jump seat with Hux asleep in his lap and Poe strapped into the pilot seat. BB-8 runs all of the diagnosis and chirrups a pre-flight alert.

"All right, buddy," Poe says, "We good?"

"`Acknowledged.`" BB-8 hums. "`Route calculated.`"

Poe looks down at the mirror. Hux is fast asleep, head tucked against Ben's neck. Ben is looking down at him and his whole face is ...soft in way that Poe can't exactly define. He's running his fingers through Hux's hair, gentle in a way that Poe can't believe Kylo Ren was ever capable of. He clears his throat, looks out at the stars and pushes the throttle forward.

"Let's go home."


End file.
